April 08, 2016

If you want pure 60 FPS on your not-so-mainstream PC, this guide may come in handy. A Reddit user tiltilltells made a useful tweak guide on how to make your Fallout 4 run a steady 60 FPS based on his PC build which is pretty much solid; AMD FX-8350 @ 4.2 GHz, EVGA GTX 770 4GB, 8 GB RAM, on the 1080p 60Hz monitor.

To put it in tiltilltrlls' words; "After making the described changes, my game experience has been infinitely better. Buttery smooth 60 FPS. No micro stutter. Nice FOV. Life's good".

There are a couple of things you will have to do in order to improve overall Fallout 4's performance, like making changes in Fallout 4 Launcher Settings, Fallout4.ini, and Fallout4Prefs.ini changes. So let's get down with it.

Fallout 4 Launcher Settings

The settings described below may or may not be the best possible settings for your rig and are subject to taste. Shadow Distance and Godrays Quality, are absolute FPS killers for most machines, so turn these down to Medium and Low respectively. You will notice a slight difference in image quality as far as shadows go, but it was well worth the ~15 frames.

January 29, 2016

A Series called Scavenger Squad from the passionate Fallout fan and YouTuber, Caedo Genesis, are the closest you will get to watching a CO-OP version of Fallout 4, and learn some new things along the way. I'm sure most of you are familiar by now with Caedo's work, and he was also featured in here a couple of times with coverage of the After War Nevada overhaul mod for Fallout: New Vegas, and a guide to get all the Wasteland Survival Guides in Fallout 4. So what's the deal with Scavenger Squad videos?

First off, the videos in this series are used as a guide to various locations that cover points of interest to the player, valuable loot, features, and even crafting techniques in Fallout 4. Every episode features a new and unique guest who joins Caedo in describing the subjects; the end result is really something worth watching.

January 05, 2016

In the Commonwealth, the Wasteland Survival Guide books come in 9 different issues, and every issue you came across will give you a variety of effects.

Nine Wasteland Survival Guide Books are; Self-Defense Secrets, The Guide to Diamond City, Hunting in the Wastes, The Scrapyard Home Decoration Guide, Water Aerobics for Ghouls, Insect Repellent Special, Commonwealth Coupon Spectacular, The Bright Side of Radiation Poisoning and Farming the Wastes.

Similar to Tales of a Junktown Jerky Vendor, The Wasteland Survival Guide is a Post-War edition magazine series, written and illustrated with crude pen drawings. For all the effects you will get with each one, and where to find them, check this detailed video guide below, courtesy of Caedo Genesis.

Fallout 4 - Wasteland Survival Guides Guide [Video]

I'm sure you found this video very helpful, and you can thank Caedo for that! I highly recommend you to check Caedo Genesis YouTube Channel for more useful guides for Fallout 4. Other than that, you can find various series there, such are Music Videos, Podcasts, Appearances & Collabs, Caedo plays, Stream Archive and, even more, guides for Fallout 3, TESV, Wasteland 2 and then some.

May 18, 2014

I tried to base this guide on all the possible quests, things to find, and things to do in each location. It's more of a guide than a walkthrough, though it does contain detailed instructions for some of the tricky bits. I feel that this structure will allow you to role-play freely (different characters have to solve problems in different ways), yet still help you to find obscure objects or quests.

If you are looking for a specific object or location, just search for the name of it with your browser. Orientation-wise, directions are always given assuming that the top of your screen is 'north'. The longer compass direction names are abbreviated, such as NE for northeast. I purposely didn't put in a Table of Contents, lest you see all the exotic places you're eventually going to visit before you're supposed to know about them. Though the locations are presented in the order that you would typically reach them, your mileage may vary.

This guide was written using the U.S. version, patched to V1.02. Owners of the U.K. and some other European versions may note that there are no children running around in their game, so some of the comments pertaining to them in this guide may not make sense, and a few minor quests will not be available. Beware that if your Intelligence (IN) is too low (I mean, your character's in the game, silly. Don't take it personally ;-), you won't be able to get most of the quests here simply because no one will be able to converse with you! Likewise, not having a high enough Charisma (CH) or Speech skill will also alter NPC responses, and you may miss out on important conversation choices that lead to quests. So, I recommend having both IN and CH at a minimum of 6 (you might scrape by with lower CH if you have a decent Speech skill) to keep your options open. If in doubt in a particular situation, pop a Mentat to boost both temporarily. Just for kicks, it's worth starting up a game with IN 3. Yes, it's a very well balanced game :-)

Luck, or dice rolls, and your stats play an important part in conversations. That's why it's very important that you save the game before every conversation. If you feel afterwards that the outcome could have been more favourable, restore to before the conversation and try it again. You just might get the dialogue choice you've been hoping for the next time through! If you consistently get the same undesirable choices, try improving your IN and CH by popping a Mentat before the conversation. Some dialogues even depend on your Science or Doctor skill, and I've tried to indicate this where possible. Unless you are going the diplomatic route, and have enough CH to be able to talk your way out of anything, make sure you start off the game with greater than 50% of either Unarmed or Melee skill. It will be quite a while before you obtain any decent weapons! Beware that one of your first encounters involves fighting bare-handed, so even Melee won't help here. I recommend a minimum Strength (ST) of 6. With less than this, you'll be severely disadvantaged at hand-to-hand, unable to take any unarmed perks (most decent ones have a min ST of 6 requirement), and you won't be able to carry much inventory either. Likewise, unless you're going to play the 'ultimate bruiser' type of character, a starting ST of 9 or 10 is a waste, since you get a chance later on to increase your ST by 3 using... artificial means! Unless you are taking on the role of a thief, a decent Barter skill is also vital. Owing to a design peculiarity in Fallout, Armour Piercing (AP) ammo doesn't do exactly what it's meant to, and is woefully ineffectual.

So, it's best to just sell any that you find. Stick to the JHP for actually loading into your weapons. Early in the game, when your character is relatively weak, there is a sure-fire way to defeat critters like Ants, Radscorpions, and Silver Geckos without taking so much as a scratch: approach to within about 5 hexes. Let them come right up to you. Then, hit them with your best shot, but make sure you have at least 5 AP left. Then retreat in a straight line. They will follow you, but won't have enough AP left to strike! Repeat until critter is dead. NPC's make great packrats. They can help you carry all the stuff you pick up after encounters with hostile critters. Be careful about giving them burst capable weapons though... or you could find yourself replaying a lot of encounters :-( Also, be sure to fine-tune them before heading out on the wasteland. You don't want someone wasting valuable ammo on easy critters (rat is hit for 243 hit points... yeah, I think it's dead. Just wasted a rocket, dammit!) In this case, take their best weapon or ammo away from them before heading out. On the other side of the coin, make sure you use the Combat Control dialogue to ensure they are using their best weapon when you know an important encounter is coming up. A high Outdoorsman skill is extremely useful for avoiding unwanted random encounters. Sometimes, you just want to get from A to B without being bothered. Carrying a Motion Sensor in your personal inventory while travelling is alleged to help in avoiding random encounters. And you get XP for using this skill! Like the man says: save, save, SAVE! You never know when you're going to mess up in combat, blow a dialogue with an NPC, etc.

Contrary to what you may hear on the grapevine, you can also save during combat, though this practice does seem to make the game more likely to crash... but you just saved, didn't you? So, no big deal. Those pre-apocalyptic Californians must have been avid readers. There are bookcases everywhere. A lot of them contain valuable stuff, so check every bookcase, desk, pot, locker, etc. Anything that exhibits a hand icon when you move your cursor over it is worth having a look at. Scavenge to your heart's content! The designers hid stuff behind walls in this one, so check for items everywhere! You can rest nearly anywhere when no hostile critters are nearby. Derelict buildings in most towns make a perfect spot for this sort of activity. There's no rush to get through Fallout 2. Use the time! Why waste Stimpaks when you can heal while resting or travelling? There are all sorts of people to sleep with, marry, etc. I didn't bother to document any of these... encounters, unless they furthered the plot :-) Well, are you ready to begin your quest?

Important Fallout Game Tips

In combat, always use targeted shots if using a rifle or pistol of any kind. Try to get close to your enemy, and shoot them repeatedly in the eyeballs. Usually, with a good Luck and good Perception and good Small Guns skills, you can kill any foe in one good shot by doing this.

When browsing over your fallen foes' corpses, pick up only money and healing chems (unless you happen to see they have better guns or armor than yours, or you need ammo -- and then leave behind any discarded munitions or armor on their bodies.) Carrying around thirty guns and leather jackets is really pointless. Take what you need, but don't play the pack rat.

Don't use Stimpaks or the like unless you're severely wounded (your HP counter is yellow). Stimpaks are your friends -- but don't waste them. You'll be a lot happier if you end the game by facing the legions of minigun toting super mutants with an inventory of 150+ Stimpaks -- quite easy if you're conservative throughout the game.

Don't do drugs. Drugs are bad. (Actually, this is a personal thing; if you enjoy being addicted to chems and having the wildly fluctuating stats that accompanies their use, then be my guest. I just stay away from them; I don't need them.)

Be careful who you kill. Don't shoot little kids, even by accident -- I hate nothing more than to have important people who I plan on completing quests for suddenly start shooting me because of a bad shot -- if this happens, reload your game and try again.

SAVE OFTEN. I MEAN, A LOT. I MEAN, SAVE AFTER EVERY BATTLE, EVERY JOURNEY FROM TOWN TO TOWN, EVERY LITTLE THING THAT SEEMS IN THE REMOTEST WAY RELEVANT TO THE GAME. A good character can get you through the game easily, but that doesn't mean that some yahoo with a 10mm piece of crap can't get lucky and critically hit you in the eyeball for 274 HP worth of damage. And if that happens while you're two steps from beating the game, and you saved back after leaving Vault 13 the first time, you're not going to be real nice to friends and family for days following.

GET THE PATCH to v1.1! This is essential. Not only does it fix a lot of stupid bugs and glitches, it removes the time limit from the game -- if you don't get it, you'll have to complete the game in 500 days, and that really sucks. Trust me. So UPGRADE.

Personally, I prefer to play the Good Guy. I just like being the champion of humanity in this game, though it's a choice you could deviate from and still have fun with the game. However, there are more experience points to be gained from peaceful solutions to problems, and being a Good Guy will definitely get the right people to like you in the right situations. Just a thought to ponder.

Here is a list of Perks that will, I assure you, help you to become a walking incarnation of death in the world. For your first Perk, choose Toughness. Choose it again a few times until something better comes along. I prefer to gain all three ranks of it, the 30% damage resistance boost makes me laugh derisively later on when raiders attempt in vain to do even a single HP worth of damage to me. More criticals is another Perk I like to stock up in. More criticals is fun. Here's the best Perk combo in the game: Action Boy (one rank), Bonus Rate of Fire (must be level 9), SNIPER!! Get Sniper on level 18.

With these three, and the Ultimate Weapon, (to be mentioned later), you can easily do about 300 HP of damage to your enemies every turn, sometimes upward of 800HP. This'll be explained later.) If, at any point in your journeying, you happen to come across a crashed UFO with two alien bodies next to it, SEARCH THE BODIES AND TAKE THE GUN. TAKE IT. TAKE IT. KEEP IT. DON'T SELL IT. DON'T LOOSE IT. KEEP IT.

If, at any point in your journeying, you happen to come across a lone traveler going through the mountains, make sure you TALK TO HIM ABOUT SINGING, and ASK HIM ABOUT THE CELTIC SONG. This will boost your charisma by one point. This is the only time in the game you can improve your charisma.

When you've worked up your weapons skills and gambling skills, try working on the doctor skill. It's MUCH better than the first aid skill, can repair broken limbs, and does 10-15 HP worth of healing with each use at high levels.

This article and the rest of the Fallout walk through is presented you by: Cole Simmons, A.K.A. Kazorky Pantz.